Clinical Psychology PsyD Clinical Training

Practicum

Each student is required to complete three year-long practicum placements: Practicum I (three semesters), Practicum II (three semesters), and Advanced Practicum (three semesters). Each practicum experience includes a minimum of 500 training hours per year:

  • at least 50%, and ideally 75%, in direct service to clients
  • approximately 25% in supervision, training activities, and administrative duties related to service and training

Additional elective clinical training experiences are available (part-time or full-time placements).  All training is designed to help students integrate theoretical knowledge with clinical application, and students gain supervised practice experience with a range of diverse client populations, age groups, and clinical problems. For example, students can pursue clinical training in child psychopathology assessment and treatment, neuropsychology, behavioral health, or adult psychopathology assessment and treatment, carried out in close mentoring relationships.

Possible Sites

The School of Graduate Psychology maintains the Pacific Psychology & Comprehensive Health Clinic, a training clinic located at two sites. The Hillsboro clinic is located in Creighton Hall on the Hillsboro Campus; here, student clinicians provide services in both Spanish and English. The Portland clinic is located in downtown Portland. These clinics offer a wide range of psychological services to the community, serving clients of all ages and ethnicities, generally of low socioeconomic status. Client presentations include mood disorders, dysfunctional relationships, child abuse, personality disorders, interpersonal problems, physical and sexual abuse, and eating disorders, among others. Students participate in offering individual, group and family therapy, as well as psychoeducational groups, consultation and psychological assessment. All students gain practicum experience at one of these training clinics in their Practicum I year.

Other community sites in the Portland area are available for Practicum II and Advanced Practicum placements, allowing for exposure to varied sites and populations.

More than 100 clinical training sites are available, such as the following:

  • Community mental health centers serving children, adolescents, adult, and/or geriatric populations, with a variety of racial/ethnic, gender-diverse populations represented. Client problems include moderate to severe family and individual dysfunction. Services provided include assessment and individual, family and group therapy. Some agencies focus on specific populations, such as patients with life-threatening illnesses or sexual minority clients.
  • State hospital with adult clients representing a variety of racial/ethnic groups and including forensic populations and patients with severe and persistent mental illness. Diagnoses include any of the major mental illnesses, and treatment includes intermediate- and long-term inpatient treatment. Trainees may be involved in providing individual and group psychotherapy, behavioral treatment, assessment, and working with an interdisciplinary treatment team.
  • Student counseling centers serving students ranging in age from late adolescence through their 60s. Counseling centers are in both small town and urban settings and serve college students from diverse backgrounds, a variety of racial/ethnic populations, and a wide variety of diagnoses (adjustment disorders, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, alcohol/drug problems, career decision making and learning disabilities). Trainees may participate in individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, outreach consultation, vocational testing and counseling, psychological and learning disability assessment, and sport psychology consultation.
  • Residential treatment center and juvenile justice facility for youths. Students conduct assessments and therapy. The primary treatment modality is group therapy, but individual, family, and psychoeducational interventions are also used.
  • Hospitals serving youths and adults.  Students conduct diagnostic and neuropsychological assessments and individual and group therapy in clinics and may work with a variety of populations, including children, youths, and adults. 
  • Community medical clinics serving youths, adults, and families.  Students conduct assessments and therapy, as well as behavioral health consultations. Individual, family, and psychoeducational interventions are used.

Internship

The clinical psychology internship is the culminating experience of the professional psychology program. It is among the last major tasks undertaken by the student prior to graduation, and it represents a significant commitment of time and effort. The internship provides an opportunity to use and refine clinical skills and knowledge and to consolidate one’s professional identity.

The internship requires either full-time supervised clinical experience for one calendar year or a comparable half-time supervised clinical experience for two consecutive years. Internship training must be taken at a site that is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) or meets Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Center (APPIC) criteria. Students apply for internships through the APPIC match procedure. The School of Graduate Psychology has an outstanding record of placing students in internship experiences across the United States and Canada. We also have our own APA-accredited internship training program.

Our current students (2024-2025) are placed all over the country. See Map for placements.